Understanding MMA
- jamie03066
- Jun 15, 2015
- 4 min read
As is often the case with martial arts, there is a lot of misinformation, disinformation, ambiguity and outright confusion concerning this subject. I am a martial arts coach that saw the birth of what we call modern mixed martial arts, was inspired by it and now finally teach it. I won't spend my time explaining the history of the sport, but act more as a guide for the novice viewer or a person interested in perhaps taking the sport up. For an objective review of the history of mixed martial arts I highly recommend Clyde Gentry's "No Holds Barred". There hasn't been a book that comes close to this yet in terms of well-researched journalism and unpartizan in its approach. Both are scarce in the world of martial arts.
The term "MMA" or mixed martial arts is not trademarked or copyrighted in anyway. In fact, by definition it is left wide open to interpretation. It is not a set style, school or even system of martial art. To make matters even murkier the sport has rapidly evolved since the early 1990s when it first made headlines, changing from a spectacle to something that resembles a combat sport. However, there are still very different competition formats. By far the most popular format is that presented by the UFC, which undeniably put the sport on the map in the first place. So what do we mean when we say MMA or mixed martial arts? Technically someone who practices light contact taekwondo and then adds in some wrist throws from his aikido training can say he is practicing a mixture of martial arts. If we were to follow this as a literal guideline then just about every martial arts school could say they teach mixed martial arts. After all, most martial arts styles and systems are mongrel creations derived from various different sources. This is a very misleading definition of MMA. However, the following will help you understand how MMA is defined by those who train in, teach and watch the sport. No doubt there is plenty I will get picked up on, as the world of martial arts is so ambigious and there are so many exceptions to the rule that it is difficult to give absolute statements. Therefore, you will have to excuse me as I use the more popular arts to describe the different aspects of MMA. MMA is generally defined as a limited rules unarmed full contact sport that combines striking with grappling techniques. Matches are mainly fought in specially constructed cages or boxing/kickboxing rings with matted surfaces to allow throws, takedowns and ground fighting. MMA has three recognized ranges of combat that are trained in order to give a fighter a chance at success in competition. These ranges can transition throughout a bout: Stand-up: This means punching and kicking whilst standing. The stand-up range resembles kick or Thai boxing bouts. Clinch: This is stand-up grappling with strikes. At this range at least one of the two opponents will generally aim to take their opponent down. It resembles freestyle or Greco Roman wrestling with the strikes of Muay Thai.
Ground: As the name suggests, this is the ground fighting range. Grappling and striking is permitted, with
either training to get a good position to strike better or to get a submission hold on. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (not to be confused with majority of Japanese Ju Jutsu schools) led the way here. However, in recent years new rules have been introduced that don't allow overly long periods of fighting on the ground. This was met with a lot of contention in the BJJ world.
Rounds are usually five minutes in length and there can be up three in total. A referee monitors the action, there are corner crews for each fighter and there are judges. There is a rough system of amateur, semi-pro and pro rules formats. The rules are usually centred around how much head contact will be permitted. By following the UFC format, gouging, biting, hair pulling, head butting and small joint manipulation are now all strictly prohibited. However, Fin Fight in Scandanavia still permit head butts and Brazil's Rio Heros has even less rules and no time limits, as it aims to promote the old style Vale Tudo (Portugese for "anything goes", where MMA came from) bouts. Matches are won by knockout (or technical knockout), submission (one fighter gives by literally tapping out) or by decision. Despite the intentional negative publicity in early years that promoted the spectacle of MMA, the sport has not proven to be any more dangerous than any other full contact combat sport. In fact, evidence would suggest that despite having less rules there is less chance of serious injury than in boxing. Fighters are not seperated when they clinch and the main aim is not to just knock your opponent out, but you also have the equally valid option of submitting him. Furthermore, with more legitimate targets open, there is less concentration on the head. A good MMA club will teach all three ranges, how to transition from them and you will actively spar (free exchange of techniques with a resisting opponent). If any of this seriously missing after a few weeks of training then I would advise that you look for another club. The training area should be matted and sparring equipment should include MMA gloves, shin guards, groin guards and mouth guards. Outside of this obviously decide whether or not you feel the coach is conducting him or herself in a profressional manner as you would any sports club. The coach should have a minimum of £5m public liability insurance, first aid certificate and, if teaching children, an advanced CRB check. Unfortunately because of the problems I stated at the beginning of this review, there is very little in the way of regulation. There is no official governing body - not that this helped with a lot of other martial arts from becoming virtual cults, corruption and ripping people off - but because it is an emerging sport there are still plenty of good resources to check a club's validity. SFUK (Submission Fighting UK) is a good resource for the UK for independent reviews and to check legitimacy of a club.
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